Global child deaths plummeted, France slowed down fast fashion, and the world’s largest tree thrived in an unlikely place, plus more good news.
What better post for a Sunday than a roundup of all the good news around the world that happened this week. I always look forward to this after a week of rather depressing news in U.S. politics and the horror that is Gaza right now. 😢 We aren’t forgetting about the suffering of the Palestinians, we’re just taking a few minutes to look at some Positive stories for our mental health. It’s a must if we want to continue fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves.
Without further ado, here is the GOOD news for the week from Gavin Haines and Positive.News.
Global child deaths reached a historic low
In 2022, the number of children that died prior to their 5th birthday hit a record low, according to new data released by United Nations. The global “under-5” mortality rate declined by 51% since 2000.
“Behind these numbers lie the stories of midwives and skilled health personnel helping mothers safely deliver their newborns, health workers vaccinating and protecting children against deadly diseases, and community health workers who make home visits to support families,” said UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell.
Even with the great numbers, there were still 4.9 million children that died in 2022. The deaths were mostly contributed to preventable or treatable conditions like Malaria, Pneumonia, and diarrhea in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.
“It is critical to improve access to quality health services for every woman and child,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization.
France slowed down fast fashion
The Parliament in France voted for several measures to fight back against mass production of clothing in China. They did so by banning advertising of the cheapest textiles and imposing an environmental levy on low-cost items.
The minister for the ecological transition, Christophe Bechu said that this makes France the first country to engage in “legislating to limit the excesses of ultra-fast fashion.”
According to Positive.News, A surcharge of €5 (£4.20) per item for clothes with big ecological footprints is planned from next year, rising to €10 by 2030. However, the charge cannot exceed 50% of an item’s price tag. The measures still require a vote in the Senate.
Somalia reached a milestone in debt relief
Somalia had 99% of its debt canceled after ongoing conflict in the region. With the U.S. and UK, and Russia, the richer creditors, cancelling $2 billion of the debt.
This is a great as the country works to recover from 3 decades of conflict. The Finance Minister, Bihi Eged posted on X saying that this reduction in Somalia’s debt will “allow our government to create fiscal space for basic public services.”
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund said that this move is going to be great help with the country’s economic development and the reduction of poverty among the Somalian people.
The US is reducing the number of “gas-guzzlers” on its highways
I think I posted about this story when it broke this week. The EPA, with the help and backing of the UAW set a deadline for car manufacturers to switch over to electric vehicles.
It also set a directive for car manufacturers to reduce the MPG of their cars by a certain amount each year leading up to the switch.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Wednesday’s regulation will prevent 7 billion tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere over 30 years. But the new regulations were watered down in concession to car makers, leaving some climate groups disappointed.
The measures include a target of 56% for all new vehicles sold in the US to be electric by 2032. EVs have no exhaust emissions but have a big ecological footprint owing to the precious minerals used in batteries.
Trump was not happy about the new plan, and promised his supporters that if he wins in 2024, he will rollback every environmental legislation Biden passed. Positive.News said that in doing so, Trump will put us even further behind China, who is currently the top producer of electric vehicles.
There will soon be a blood test for heart disease risk
A new study has found that people with a particular protein in their blood are 50% more likely to die of heart failure in the next 3 years. Although there is no cure for heart disease, there are treatments available.
From Positive.News:
“As many as one million people in the UK have heart failure,” said Prof Bryan Williams, chief scientific officer at the British Heart Foundation. “Measuring neuropeptide Y levels could in future offer… greater insights into how a patient’s heart failure is likely to progress, in particular whether those with high levels of neuropeptide Y would benefit from additional treatment to reduce their higher risk.”
Scientists hope the test will be available within five years. Further research is planned.
A university in the UK has stopped taking donations from Big Oil
The University of Cambridge in the UK has stopped accepting donations from oil and gas companies to protect academic instruction.
A research group recommended the moratorium after it found that fossil fuel companies had donated £3.3 million per year over the last 6 years. Their donations accounted for 0.4% of all of its research funding—leading to concerns over their influence on academic research at the university.
According to Positive.News: “This is a huge deal for ending greenwashing, safeguarding research integrity, protecting academic freedom, and ending institutional support for an industry profiting from harm to people and the planet alike,” said the student group Cambridge Climate Justice, in a statement. “This is a key step towards a permanent fossil free research policy.”
The largest species of trees are flourishing in the UK
The California Redwoods, the tallest tree species, are thriving in the UK. There are about 500,000 of the trees in Great Britain—more than in the Sierra Nevada mountains—and they are growing at about the same rate.
From Positive.News:
Imported as botanical trophies in the Victorian era, giant redwoods can live for 2,000 years and reach heights of 90m. They store up to five times more carbon per hectare than tropical rainforests, according to Prof Mathias Disney, who led the University College London research.
“These giant sequoias are here to stay and are becoming a beautiful and resilient part of our landscape,” he wrote. “More work is needed to consider the impact of planting non-native species like giant sequoias on native habitats and biodiversity, but our work has shown that they are apparently very happy with our climate, so far.”
An English city stopped toxic ads from being displayed
Businesses that cause pollution will no longer be allowed to advertise in Sheffield City. The city counsel stopped allowing businesses like; car manufacturers, airlines, and oil companies. It doesn’t include ads from banks that might fund fossil fuel projects.
Sheffield Green Party councillor Marieanne Elliot, who supported the policy, said: “If we seriously want to move away from greenwashing and promoting products and foods that are making our health worse and negatively affecting our wellbeing, we need policies like this.”
I would suggest doing something like this in the U.S., but the difference is that in America, corporations and fossil fuel companies bribe and own the politicians that are responsible for regulating them. (Oops! This is supposed to be good news. Sorry, it’s a tough habit to break!)
The newest happiness report came out
The Scandinavian countries are still on top as having the happiest people in the world.
From Positive.News:
Finland has retained its status as the ‘world’s happiest nation’ in the latest World Happiness Report.
The report painted a somewhat mixed picture overall. While it noted an increase in kindness since the pandemic, it also recorded a decline in happiness among young people in the west.
“This latest World Happiness Report highlights the vital importance of young people’s wellbeing and how this varies around the world,” said Dr Mark Williamson, director of wellbeing charity Action for Happiness, who wasn’t involved in the research.
“Although there are some countries, like the US, where wellbeing is declining for people under age 30, there are others, like Lithuania, where young people have been getting happier.”
He added: “It’s particularly encouraging that levels of kindness have increased post-pandemic. So, although many young people are struggling right now, they are also playing a big part in helping to make things better.”
The top of the index was dominated by Scandinavian countries, with Denmark and Iceland ranking behind Finland. The UK and US ranked 20th and 23th respectively.
The “dark forests” of the UK now has a song about them
Apparently in the UK they have something called Dark Forests. The name comes from the densely packed Conifer (Pine) trees that block out the sunlight and make it difficult for any wildlife to survive there. Sounds pretty gloomy.
A new song has been released about them by a Scottish singer/songwriter. Positive.News does a better job of explaining it:
A new single is making noise about an environmental issue that often goes unheard: the lack of biodiversity in UK conifer plantations.
The UK’s densely planted timber forests are eerie places, where wildlife struggles to thrive. Where Now A Dark Wood Stands – by Scottish composer Alexander Chapman Campbell and folk singer Julie Fowlis – is a rallying cry for the plantations to be reimagined so that nature can flourish in them.
Read the full story here.
This article was originally published on Positive.news and was republished here, with permission, under a CC BY-ND 4.0 license.
